February 10, 2005

Attacking Stephens

Captain Ed and one of his readers are ripping on the WSJ's Brett Stephens for being a "spokesperson" for his club. Yes, Stephens probably should have mentioned he's closely associated with the World Economic Forum where Jordan made his remarks. However, Stephens doesn't exonerate Jordan. In fact, he reaffirms what others have testified.

What happened was this: Mr. Jordan observed that of the 60-odd journalists killed in Iraq, 12 had been targeted and killed by coalition forces. He then offered a story of an unnamed Al-Jazeera journalist who had been "tortured for weeks" at Abu Ghraib, made to eat his shoes, and called "Al-Jazeera boy" by his American captors.
Here Rep. Barney Frank, also a member of the panel, interjected: Had American troops actually targeted journalists? And had CNN done a story about it? Well no, Mr. Jordan replied, CNN hadn't done a story on this, specifically. And no, he didn't believe the Bush administration had a policy of targeting journalists. Besides, he said, "the [American] generals and colonels have their heart in the right place."

By this point, one could almost see the wheels of Mr. Jordan's mind spinning, slowly: "How am I going to get out of this one?" But Mr. Frank and others kept demanding specifics. Mr. Jordan replied that "there are people who believe there are people in the military" who have it out for journalists. He also recounted a story of a reporter who'd been sent to the back of the line at a checkpoint outside of Baghdad's Green Zone, apparently because the soldier had been unhappy with the reporter's dispatches.

Stephens reports that Jordan accused the U.S. military of targeting journalists. Then he started backing away because (in Stephens' mind) he couldn't back up that claim. We have another witness hearing a CNN head honcho flippantly shooting off false, anti-American statements. That doesn't exonerate Jordan.

"'Easongate'"

"Conflict Of Interest At The WSJ"